UPDATE: Cops round up 21 in pre-dawn Ellenville raid

By By Michael Novinson

Times Herald-Record

December 07, 2012 - 12:00 PM

ELLENVILLE — Police swept up 21 people and seized drugs during a pre-dawn raid Friday.

Two of those arrested are alleged gang members, while two others were charged with selling within a school zone. The raid culminates a year-long investigation into drug trafficking in the Ellenville area.

All of the suspects were located during the 4 a.m. crackdown and none remain at large.

“These individuals have been selling poison for a long time,” said Ulster County Assistant District Attorney Gerard Van Loan. “These arrests will prove that selling drugs doesn't pay in the long run.”

The suspects were accused of selling everything from crack cocaine to marijuana to prescription painkillers.

About 60 federal, county and local law enforcement officers descended on Ellenville and Wawarsing in the early morning. Nobody resisted arrest, and nobody was injured.

The 21 suspects are being held in Ulster County Jail.

Police were armed with 17 grand jury indictments and five local arrest warrants. A handful of those charged had already been incarcerated.

Those arrested face 96 felony and six misdemeanor charges in total, nearly all of which pertain to having or selling drugs.

Police seized drugs from many of those arrested, including nearly 300 bags of heroin and 2.5 ounces of crack from Garvey “Joker” Marmol, 27, of Ellenville. No weapons were seized during Friday's raid.

Carlos “Los” Medina, 28, of Ellenville is an accused Blood, while Jose “Chops” Rodriguez, 30, of Ellenville is an accused Crip. Erol Tuna, 28, of Ellenville and Iris Serrano, 34, of Wawarsing allegedly sold drugs within 1,000 feet of a school.

A 2007 raid resulted in the arrest of 17 suspected Bloods in Wawarsing and Rochester, while March's “Operation Clean Sweep” ended with 101 arrests in the Kingston area. Police said that 44 of those arrested in the Kingston raid were street gang members.